End of recruitment and growth of the settlement It was reported that in 1670, most of the girls who had arrived the previous year, 1669, were already pregnant and by 1671, a total of nearly 700 children were born to the Filles du Roi.

Roughly 60 women died during their voyage over; 770 was the number that actually made it to New France alive. Following this, these women settled into temporary housing, (farms turned into boarding houses/school), and were supported by the crown until they found husbands.

The king’s advisor, Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, sent the “Filles du Roi” as an incentive for male workers who had finished their contract and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment (which had just been demobilized) to settle in the colony.

The Filles du Roi, or King’s Daughters, had one mission: populate the colony of New France. From 1663 to 1673, these 800 or so women were shipped from France under the financial sponsorship of King Louis XIV to find male suitors and start families in one of the nation’s most geographically significant colonies.

They were specifically looking for women who were young, average- or good-looking, single, smart, strong, in good health, and having good morals. Each fille du roi also had to produce a “certificate of good conduct” signed by their priest or a judge from their hometown.

From 1663 to 1673, some 800 young women came to New France at the King’s expense, to marry and start families. Within six months of landing in the port of Québec, 80 percent of them were married.

The first King’s Daughters—or filles du roi—arrived in New France in 1663, and 800 more would follow over the next decade. The filles du roi became the founding mothers of French Canadians, for whom these women are a source of historical pride.

Before leaving France, each fille du roi received a “trousseau” containing a comb, a belt, a pair of shoes and shoelaces, a pair of pantyhose, a pair of gloves, a bonnet, two coiffes (a kind of hood), and sewing supplies (100 needles, a case and thimble, thread, scissors, pins, two knives, and cloth).

The Filles du roi were part of King Louis XIV’s program to promote the settlement of his colony in Canada. Some 737 of these women married and the resultant population explosion gave rise to the success of the colony.